Robberies up in North Bay

An increase in robberies in North Bay year to year has caught the attention of the deputy chief of police.

Scott Tod says as of the end of October, there were 23 robberies in the city while there were 16 a year ago.

He says it’s not only the numbers but he’s concerned about the severity of the incidents too.

“One involving a gas bar attendant who was injured in a robbery by an assailant. A knife was used to cut the face of the attendant. That’s quite concerning to me that we’re having that type of violence in the community,” Tod says.

As for the weapons being used a lot of the incidents revolve around edged weapons but there are others.

“We’ve seen tools used in the past, a hammer or a stick of some sort. Recently, there’s been the prescence of a knife in the robbery that’s really concerning to us,” he says.

On the positive side, sexual assaults, drug charges and total criminal offenses are all down but break and enters and assaults are up.

Tod says they investigated 10 motor vehicle collisions in October resulting in 12 people being injured.